


Falling Away

by Frangipanidownunder



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 18:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10496760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frangipanidownunder/pseuds/Frangipanidownunder
Summary: Written for @leiascully‘s XFWritingChallenge Prompt: Resentment.Slightly NSFW.





	

The desk was just one of the symbols. The missing nameplate on the door. There were countless others, too. The assumption by those they met in the field that they must be fucking, and good on him. The reports he never wrote. His martyrdom to whatever cause or conspiracy he was chasing that week left her trailing in his arrogant wake with her rationalisations, her science and her questions that sometimes bordered on petty.  
And then Diana had placed herself in his line of sight with a motive that was at best dubious and at worst devious. Scully’s resentment of Diana and of Mulder’s trust in her was stretched and thinned so that it shone with a brilliance that sometimes blinded her better judgement.  
Sometimes Mulder’s ignorance to the facts astounded her. For six years she had been sceptic to his believer, scientist to his dreamer, brought logic to his theories. He’d told her not so long ago that he needed her, that she made him a whole person. Now, she felt like a shadow.  
She packed her bag with a deal of reluctance. Heading to California to play house with Mulder was not exactly the optimal way to start back on The X Files.  
“The Falls has consistently been voted…”  
“I read the brief too, Mulder.”  
“This case, Scully. It’s like for trainee agents. Kersh was a fuckwit, but I don’t get why we’re being given shit like this.”  
“It’s better than the piles of doo-doo we were investigating, Mulder. Just enjoy the fact that this case has unusual hallmarks and we have been given an opportunity to investigate the festering underbelly of middle America, instead of festering piles of manure. It smells a whole lot better from my perspective.”  
“It’s still crap, Scully.”  
“You’d better not sulk for this whole time, Mulder.”  
“Sulk? I think you’ve mistaken me for the other partner.”  
“What?” It sounded snarkier than she intended. He turned his chin slightly, enjoying his little victory.  
“When we disagree, you get this righteous look of indignation and you give me the silent treatment.”  
“Mulder, I am not a teenaged girl. If I disagree with you, and let’s face it, there have been a multitude of times where we have debated a point, I will listen to your argument and offer my own. I do not sulk.”  
“Sure. Fine. Whatever.”  
He flexed his fingers over the steering wheel and she saw him quirk a smile into the mirror on his visor. She pressed her forehead against the window and watched life on the outside blend and haze.  
The house was as soulless as Scully felt. The Falls was every bit as scary as the worst mutant she’d faced. People actually wanted to live in these estates. It left her bristling, this faux community spirit. Mulder was in his element, goofing around and grinning that insane smile, with his pink collared-tees and his touchy-feely cuteness. He took every opportunity to tease and to rile and to show her up in front of the neighbours. Before, she wouldn’t have given a damn, she would have let him have his fun. But since Antarctica, since Diana, his playfulness seemed to hurt more, his jibes more personal. He was definitely enjoying this.  
“Scully, are you coming to bed?”  
She wouldn’t dignify that with a response. She closed the bathroom door. She could hear him tutting to himself. She wouldn’t be surprised if he was calling Diana and going to town on all the reasons why Dana Scully would be a terrible house-mate. When she opened the door, he was lying on the bed, looking infuriatingly attractive.  
He flashed her a grin. “What’s up, Scully?”  
“Mulder, I realise this isn’t important to you, but it is to me – can you please clean up after you shave. Can you please not leave toenails on the vanity. Can you please put the toothpaste lid back on.” She kept her voice even, hiding her trembling hands in the pockets of her robe.  
“Those things bother you that much, Scully?”  
“If we’re going to spend more time in this house together, I think that they’re reasonable requests, Mulder.”  
He stood up and walked towards her. Her instinct was to step backwards as he loomed over her. Using his height to intimidate her wasn’t beyond him, and she felt especially vulnerable in her casual state of dress. “Your shoulders are high, your jaw is set, your neck is stiff, you’re grinding your teeth. All those traits are physical manifestations of stress and tension. My being here is really setting you off, isn’t it, Scully?”  
She exhaled and turned her chin slightly away from him. She ran her tongue over her lips. She took her hands out of her pockets. “Your being here just proves to me how…strained our partnership has become. If you hadn’t noticed it before, being in confined quarters is surely making it obvious even to you, Mulder.”  
“Even to me, Scully?” His breath was hot against her cheek as he lowered his head. His hands came up and she recoiled as he placed them either side of her neck and began to massage her shoulders. The pain was sharp as he turned over gristly knots. She hissed. “Sorry, Scully.”  
She looked up at him. There was a genuine apology in his voice. He blinked slowly.  
“Sit down on the bed. Let me do this for you properly.”  
“It’s fine, Mulder. I just need to sleep.”  
“You can’t sleep with all that tension built up. Your head will be pounding by the morning.”  
“And you don’t need me to be any more tense than I already am, is that it?”  
“You’re putting words in my mouth, Scully. You’ve been off since we before we got here.”  
“Off, Mulder?”  
“Yes, Scully. You know it. You’re angry with me and you refuse to talk about it and I don’t want to play guessing games. Is that a better description than ‘off’?” He rolled the skin on top of her shoulders and she flinched.  
He pressed harder and she moaned, “Mulder, you’re hurting me.”  
He removed his grip on her and she stood up, pushing her hair behind her ears. He stayed kneeling on the bed, raising his arms in surrender. He held her gaze and she felt embarrassment prickle across her face.  
“I think I should get some sleep.”  
“There are other ways to release tension, Scully.”   
She cast her gaze downwards. The bastard had a hard-on. She turned and walked to the other room – her room. He followed her.  
“Scully, I’m sorry. That was below the belt.”  
“Fuck you, Mulder.” She went to slam the door.  
He put an arm out to stop it. “Don’t shut me out, Scully.”  
“What do you want from me, Mulder? What do I have to do to prove myself to you? Why are you still the top dog in this partnership? You used to tell me that you only trusted me. Now, I don’t know what you think, how you think, who you trust. I fought hard to get The X Files back. Do you even want them?”  
“Of course I do. I want to get back on that even keel.”  
“Is that what we were on?”  
He manoeuvred his way around her and sat on her bed. He held his palms up and shook his head. “I don’t know. Wasn’t it?”  
She took a deep breath and sat down next to him. The softness of the mattress meant she slid closer to him, their legs touching. A soft groan left his lips. She tried to shift away but the difference in their weight made it feel like she was swimming up hill. He placed a hand on her thigh.  
“Mulder.”  
“It’s always been there, Scully. And nothing’s changed. Despite what you might think.”  
“What are you talking about?” she said, looking at the clock on the bedside drawer, its red lettering blinking at her.  
“You know what I’m talking about. And you feel the same. You can’t hide behind what happened in Antarctica forever, Scully. You might not remember everything, you might have dismissed what you saw because of the virus or whatever, but you cannot deny the feelings. They were there before and…I’m willing to bet they’re still there.”  
He rubbed his fingers over the towelling and she felt a hot flood in her gut. She pressed her eyes shut. “Mulder, this is a bad idea.”  
“I’ve had a few in my time.”  
“And I’m usually the one who talks you out of them.”  
“So go ahead, Scully. Talk me out of it.”  
She swallowed hard and watched the knuckles on his fingers turn from pink to white as he kneaded her thigh.  
“Tell me about Diana.”  
“What?”  
“You and Diana.”  
He took his hand away and pulled back. “Scully, you know we were partners.”  
“And?”  
“What do you want me to say? That we were lovers? Because I think you already know that.” His eyes flashed with a spark of frustration but he kept his voice even.  
“I know,” she sighed, rubbing her forehead before pushing herself off the bed. “I’m sorry, Mulder. It’s this house…this case…”  
“Scully, Diana and I have a history that I can’t erase. She was there at a time of my life when I discovered the X-Files, it was exciting, intense. We worked well together. She believed…”  
“Yes, she does. And I don’t. Even now.”  
“That’s not what I meant, Scully. You make me work hard for the truth. Diana just accepted, no questions asked. I said it before and I meant it – your science and rationalism have saved me. It’s what makes us really work. But your distrust of Diana…it’s over the top. It’s almost as if you’re jealous of her.”  
“No. That’s not true, Mulder. I dislike her, you already know that. But I am not jealous. Why would I be?”  
“Because you seem to think that I tell her more than I tell you. Isn’t that what you’ve been saying here?”  
“And do you? Tell her more than you tell me?”  
“Scully, you are my partner. We are back on The X-Files. We need to trust each other again.” His long sigh was excruciating.  
“Then you’ll have to show me how to do that, Mulder. Because I’m a little lost here.”  
He pulled her back to the bed. He knelt behind her and massaged her, gently. He lowered his face to the point where her neck met her shoulders and whispered, “Scully, you mean more to me than anyone ever has, or ever will. I promise you that you are still the only one I trust.”  
She reached up and put her hand on his, enjoying the rhythmic motion of his fingers as they unknotted the gristle. “We shouldn’t be doing this, Mulder.”  
“You didn’t talk me out of it, Scully.”  
His breath was hot against her cheek and she shuddered. She turned her face and he met her lips with his own, soft at first. His hands clasped under her hair line and he shifted her around so that they were both kneeling on the bed, pushing against each other. The knot on her robe belt loosened and the sides parted under the friction of their bodies. Mulder looked down at her bare breasts and she sucked in a long breath as his gaze wandered over her. The look in his eyes was pure – not lust, but the look of a man in love, his lips slightly parted, his breathing shallow, his skin prickled with gooseflesh. He let out a small groan and gave her a half-smile. Her lips quivered as she processed what was happening.  
She picked up his hand and placed it against a breast, her nipple hardening instantly. His grin spread and he placed a finger under chin.  
“Tell me to stop now, Scully. Because I don’t care about the rules or the past or even the future for now. At this moment, all I care about is you. And I want you to trust me enough to let me love you. Can you do that?”  
She nodded just enough to give him permission. He squeezed her breast, rolling the nipple and he lowered his head to caress it with his tongue. She let his hair fall through her fingers and she let her resentment fall away with the rest of her robe.


End file.
